Forum - View topicREVIEW: Sword Art Online Blu-Ray 1
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KENZICHI
 Posts: 1103 |
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The problem I have with SAO is that I feel like I've missed 5 episodes inbetween each episode. The show is too episodic to me so it confuses me. I do like the visuals though so I keep watching. I just hope it gets better. I'm going to read the novel though to see if I like that better.
I also hope I can actually start caring about these characters (only been watching on AS so I'm far behind). |
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gedata
 Posts: 615 |
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SAO has the honor of being the first title I've ever gone into genuinely excited before ending up watching just to see deep depths it could plum. Pretty soul-crushing.
Anyway, I do quite like the honesty of this review, it reflects the positivity I once had for the show. |
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Zump
Posts: 131 |
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I have a theory regarding this issue: the show takes place in a world without government regulation. Corporations have gained so much power and influence in the government that they have finally succeeded in doing away with any form of regulation. This enables them to do whatever they want, no matter how illegal, without any fear of being held accountable for bad things that result from the use of their products. While people die from the use of their products, the corporations continue to make record profits. A horrifying world indeed. Don't misunderstand me. I'm not defending the show. If nothing else, what I typed above only further demonstrates what a missed opportunity the show was and how it could have tackled a very relevant socio-political issue. |
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Redcrimson
 Posts: 160 |
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The problem with the SAO anime is that nobody thought it was a good idea to revise the original story, which Kawahara penned as a teenager, beyond slipping the side stories into chronological order.
There are a lot of logical inconsistencies in the story, ones that could easily have been ironed out with a little editing. The fact that the studio didn't care, or didn't think anyone else would care, makes the whole series reek of cynical market pandering. No one was ever going to accuse SAO of being a meaningful piece of art, but it could have at least pretended it wasn't an emotionally manipulative cash-grab aimed at teenage gamers. |
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trilaan
 Posts: 1054 Location: Texas |
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The part that makes it all worthwhile to me is the characters. I just love them. With one exception, a certain piece of unrequited love squick in part 2. Seriously, Japan, stop that. Stop it right now.
The show needed more opposite sex character players. spoiler[I'm pretty sure the boy and the girl(who was also really a boy) from the first episode were also in the last episode, hugging each other. What happened there? THAT would have been an interesting narrative.] |
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EighteenSky
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Perhaps Akihiko Kayaba had links to higher authorities which allowed this to happen? I do think you're being a bit too nit-picky but that's fine if it was something really bothered you.
Beta tests don't always lead to finding all rogue code especially in an MMO of this scale. Agree generally with the review although I thought the pace was spot on. I have this set but haven't watched the dub yet (need a region free BR player first) but it was good to hear some thoughts on it. Will look forward to re watching it with the dub. |
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Correl
 Posts: 42 Location: Redmond, WA |
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I'm super confused by this line in the review. Beta tests don't generally give the users access to the raw code and if the build they used for beta tests had some code excluded or changed (super common scenario in beta tests as lots of instrumentation and logging gets added for beta and removed later), it's entirely likely that no amount of testing would have ever found it. They even go to the effort of mentioning that the log out stuff worked properly in beta, so the players would have no reason to expect there would be any issues. As far as how the NERVE Gear got past consumer protection agencies or whatnot, it would seem possible that the microwave or whatever was a necessary part of the normal operations of the gear and that a day 0 update to the gear is what allowed it to be harmful. Even today, many cell phones or laptops are capable of causing themselves to overheat and potentially catch fire if something were to happen to their firmware, and they all get approved by our consumer protection agencies. |
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Dan42
Chief Encyclopedist
 Posts: 3782 Location: Montreal |
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Yeah, it's definitely nit-picking. For some reason very common about SAO. The explanation is simple and right there in the anime: Kayaba was a super-genius who fooled everyone. No need to overthink it. The point of SAO is what happens IN the game, not the mechanics of how people got trapped there. Sure, this kind of thing wouldn't happen in the real world, but this isn't supposed to be the real world. It's ANIME. And as far as anime goes, this is a heckuva lot more plausible than having one's "soul" trapped in the game or any of a gazillion unrealistic phenomena in every anime of every season.
A beta test is used to iron out the most glaring bugs of a system. And even after the beta test there's still a ton of small bugs left. Rogue code is even harder to find as it's something deliberately hidden in the system. No mere beta test could uncover that, you'd need a full security audit. |
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Barbobot
 Posts: 460 |
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True, but cellphones and such don't intercept your brains electrical responses to your body. You would think with that kind of functionality there would be far more regulation and oversight.
But it's an explanation with plenty of logical holes. You can still enjoy the show that comes from the setup, but that doesn't absolve the setup from being pretty bad. Last edited by Barbobot on Mon Sep 09, 2013 3:27 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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Parsifal24
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I liked the series but yes the logical problems with the video game system and the "self insert" feel of the protagonist kind of started to bug me, but than again I have friends who are huge almost unquestioning fans of this series.
Anytime I go "hay this part isn't good writing" or some minor criticism there response is "no it's not and automatically defend it like it's a personal affront on them. So it's a little hard to try and articulate sometimes why this is bad because of it's "super fans" knee jerk reaction to the slightest criticism but that's just my two cents. This review was a good representation of what's good and bad about SAO and honestly never thought of the character design while watching it that was an interesting point made. |
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18189 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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Granted, but that's a criticism that is far from exclusive to SAO. And I've seen it cut the other way with this series, too, as some get so hung up on the supposed Gary Stu aspect or the "mai waifu" or "character insert" business or whatever that they refuse to acknowledge when the series' writing does actually do something good. |
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SpacemanHardy
Posts: 2509 |
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My opinion:
Reki Kawahara is responsible for two light novel series that have been adapted into anime. The first is a thrilling action-adventure series set in a virtual world, featuring a large, colorful cast of enjoyable characters, a strong lead female, and a likeable, relatable protagonist. The other one is Sword Art Online. 
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MaxSouth
Posts: 1363 |
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Agree with Rebecca, she did good job with pointing how (appallingly) big the gaps are. For me, those gaps kills all the efforts that authors make to immerse viewers into the setting, into world of this anime. As you watch all of that nonsense and the plot holes, it becomes immediately obvious how poorly thought and fake this project is; the escapism is destroyed. Of course, this show is still good -- and I rated it accordingly -- but it had much more promise than its actual rendition offered. And I do not mean pacing issues, I exactly mean "big logical gaps". I take few setting-building axioms, but elsewhere the show has to make sense -- and it did not. |
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sonic720
Posts: 66 |
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Thank you for the well written review. The grading seems fair and the reviewer's thoughts are easy to follow. I more or less agree with the points made, although I'm not nearly as critical about the setup of the NerveGear getting by the JCAA.
I view the show as a fantasy shounen adventure with a cool concept, so the realism of what's going on in the "real world" does not matter that much to me personally. I can see how others may need to have every detail properly explained to get into the show, as they may have a hard time relating or taking it seriously at times. I guess I don't really care about the fine details when I find the visuals stunning and the concept to be fun. I also really like the character designs and think most of the characters are interesting, especially some of the side characters (I wish a few had more screen time). There's certainly some plot hole moments in the show, but the worst of them occurs in the Fairy Dance arc for me. The pacing of the show seems to be an issue some have a hard time with as well. I would agree the story is somewhat rushed in the Aincrad arc, and probably would have been better had they made the Aincrad arc longer. I've heard others dislike the first person point of view story telling from Kirito's perspective too. I personally had no issue with the POV being focused from the protagonist's view, though I see why those who dislike Kirito or find him to be boring would take issue with it and grow weary of the show. I'm ambivalent about him, and his perspective works fine for me, but I agree a disadvantage of the show only being told from his view is less screen time for what else is happening outside of his scope of influence. One thing SAO really did right in my view is have a very nicely detailed environment and some excellent side characters. I think a lot of thought and effort went into making the Aincrad universe a believable place for a fantasy adventure. I can imagine being immersed in the virtual world and having a blast under less dire circumstances. The attention to detail in the different levels of the tower and the beautiful scenery really make this anime pop on my HD TV. The action sequences are also very well animated, and definitely got my attention the first time watching. I really like the art and bonuses in this set and enjoyed the show enough to pick this one up. While it's no masterpiece of story telling, it's highly entertaining and visually striking for me. Overall, I'd give it a B grade, or 8/10 too. |
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pachy_boy
Posts: 1323 |
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Here's another brain-teaser for anyone who has an answer--for as long as everyone's stayed trapped in the game world, do their bodies really somehow not starve to death?
For all of its popularity, I've watched the first few episodes on Toonami and I have to confess there really isn't much of anything, both in visuals and narrative, that stood out to me and gripped me and felt distinct, and I've never even seen .Hack// (which may change with Funimation's upcoming release). And from what Zac and Bamboo say, it just goes downhill during its second half, which I'm not looking forward to watching. I'll check out a couple more episodes to see what I feel like. |
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